"Things We Forget"

The other day on Pinterest (if you are one of the ones who doesn't know what this is you should check it out) someone pinned this "post it note" and I loved it.

How true is this?! I've posted on here before about fear. It is definitely something I struggle with. I REALLY struggled with it when I was pregnant with Sadie and now that she's here I have to be careful not to let it consume my thoughts. Fear and faith don't go together. You either live in fear or live in faith.

The source of this post it note can be found here. It's a fun blog with lots of "Things we Forget." You should check it out.

Parenting

I have less business posting on today's topic than I did on last weeks topic. Since I've only been a parent for 3 months and 16 days I should probably focus more on getting advice than giving it. Oh trust me I spend lots of times texting and e-mailing my friends and asking a million questions. Along this journey I'd like to think I've at least learned a few things.

The few things I've learned have more to do with having a newborn but some apply across the board. So since you came over to see what I have to say here you go! :)

Every parent and every child are different. Don't worry what other parents and other babies/children are doing. Do what is best for you and your child.

Stop the guilt. If you can't or don't want to breast feed, don't feel guilty. If you have to or want to go back to work, don't feel guilty. These things and many others will not cheat your child out of becoming a wonderful, successful, well-rounded individual.

Relax. This is advice I've had to give myself. As you all know we are very scheduled around here. It is how I work best and I know it is not for everyone. Sometimes though being scheduled can be a hindrance. Although it is important to stick to one if that is your preference there are times it is good to just relax! If your baby eats 30 minutes late one day. It will be fine. Or if your child is extra sleepy and sleeps past wake up time. No big deal.

Balance. Sometimes during the day my "to-do" list is so long I practically need to feed Sadie, put her in a place she can entertain herself (swing, bouncy, jumperoo) and get busy. It's ok if Sadie plays by herself. It's good for her. So don't feel bad about not spending every single second with them. On the flip side though some days it's ok not to get the laundry done or do all the dishes put away if you just want to sit and play with your baby. It's all about balance. You don't want to miss out because they grow so fast but life goes on and there are things to get done. Just do your best.

Ask questions. Obviously I knew nothing (and still don't know a lot) about how to raise Sadie. Sure I know how to love her and spend time with her but I need/needed help on how much to feed her, when to feed her, how many poopie diapers should she have, what are those red bumps on her neck, when do I give her solid foods, etc. I basically picked a few other moms that are similar to me in thinking (scheduling) and are willing to answer my questions and I go to them for advice. It has been great for me and I'm so thankful to have them.

PRAY. Last but certainly not least is prayer. Sometimes it gets so busy throughout the day that I don't stop and pray for Sadie or for Josh and I as her parents. That is the most important thing I can do for Sadie. She belongs to the Lord but Josh and I are responsible for raising her in a way that brings honor to Him. We needs lots of prayer for that!

Jump!Jump!

About a month or so ago Josh and I bought Sadie a jumperoo with some gift cards she had received. We couldn't decide between that or the exersaucer. We went with the jumperoo because she is constantly moving and kicking her legs so we figured it would be good to let her jump around. She wasn't even 3 months when we got it so she was way too small at first. She would sit it in and look at everything but that was it. Although she's still too small lately we've put her in there for longer periods of time and she loves it. Today we stayed home all day so she played in it a lot. In fact at one point she almost fell asleep in it. I had to stuff a blanket in the seat with her and give her something for her feet to reach but it worked great. Here are several pictures of her fun day. She looks so grown up in these pictures and her ears crack me up! I love them!

P.S. I resize my pictures before I blog them so that I don't run out of photo space but by doing that the pictures aren't that great. Any suggestions on how I can correct this or what size I should blog them at? Maybe I shouldn't resize so small?!

Sacred

The Christmas of 2007 Josh and I weren't engaged yet but I knew it was about to happen (it happened on January 14th) so I wasn't surprised when one of his gifts to me was a book about marriage. He LOVES books. Actually he is borderline obsessed with books. He had read Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas and really wanted me to read it as well. He also bought me Sacred Influence.

I was very appreciative of these books but I have a hard time with nonfiction sometimes. I love them but I have to be in a certain frame of mind. I guess this is a good time to tell you that I still haven't read them. I will read them I just haven't yet.

Right before we got married though I read somewhere online about Devotions of a Sacred Marriage. Josh and I were looking for a devotional for the two of us so we thought it would be the perfect one.
We love it. We went through it two or three times and we will definitely come back to it. It's challenging and causes you to think about someone other than yourself. Crazy, huh?!
Once Josh and I found out we were going to have a baby we knew we not only needed to grow in our marriage but we also needed to grow as parents. Well wouldn't you know there is a Devotions for Sacred Parenting book?




We had to buy it, of course, and it has been great. Let me set the record straight here. Just because we have the devotional books doesn't mean we sit down every night and do them. Not true. We have been very lazy about it in the past but we've gotten back into it which is why it is fresh on my mind. In fact it was during last night's devotional that I thought about blogging these books. They really are great books. I'm thankful we've found them. If you are looking for something for yourself or as a gift I would check them out. He has lots of other books too that I am sure are great. Maybe one day I will get around to reading them. :)

Let's Plan It

As I mentioned in an earlier post in effort to get organized I bought a cheap planner. I thought I was doing a good thing because I was saving us money. The one I really wanted was around $50. That just wasn't going to work for us right now. I've used my cheap planner for a couple of weeks and...well...it doesn't have everything I need. Stink. What a bummer. I had to use it because there was still no way I could buy the one I wanted. Or so I thought.

Today my friend Erin posted about things she's loving right now. She had a planner posted that I really wanted AND you could get it for half price. WHAT?!?!?!?! And wouldn't you know there was actually another coupon code and I could get the $50 planner for $20. Yes, please. I went on and bought the deal (go here if you want it too) but it took me forever to decide which design to get. I debated and debated on it. I was also in the process of having calling cards designed by my friend Tricia (you should check her out) and I thought it would be good if they coordinated. :) They didn't have to be matchy-matchy but I didn't want them to clash.

Calling Cards

(my phone number is on there too but I didn't want to share it with everyone)

Planner

I changed the brown to black

I am very excited about my new things. I think they will both be really nice and helpful to have. My planner can help me stay organized and my calling cards can help me stay connected.

3 Month Pictures

Last Saturday we had Sadie's 3 month pictures taken. I won a photo shoot from my friend Ashley on Facebook. I was very excited because I really wanted to have Sadie's picture made. I went back and forth on what I wanted her to wear. I was going to buy her something but at the last minute decided she could wear something she already had. That turned out to be a good decision. This first picture is a good indication of how the photo shoot went.

My sweet, happy, smiling baby was none of those things that day. Bless her heart she was just sleepy. She normally takes a good morning nap and she didn't sleep well at all that morning. I'm just thankful despite that Ashley was able to get a few good pictures.
Love her rolls

So serious.

Now that's a double chin!!

My mom got her the sweet pearl bracelet she's wearing

These two are sweet.
And I've saved the best picture for last...

...WOOO PIG SOOIE!!!

Testing. Testing. 1-2-3

Some times I hesitate sharing certain things "out loud" because I know as sure as I do I will be tested on it. I shouldn't be afraid of the tests because they keep me accountable for what I say and do but sometimes I am.

A few weeks ago I posted this about how faithful MY God is. He is, I believe that. Only now I'm being tested on whether or not I will walk in that truth.

Few things stress me our more than finances. I am the keeper of the finances in our house so I know when we have it and when we don't. When praying about whether or not I should quit my job our financial situation was a huge factor in that. I probably worked through our budget 10 times to see how it could work. I finally had it to where almost all our budget items would be covered. I was "willing" to trust God for the few things that weren't. As if I shouldn't trust Him for all of it anyway. Arrogant me. There was a certain amount of money I needed to make that would primarily cover our health insurance. We had insurance through my work so that has been our biggest challenge. After calling around and getting quotes we found one that I could afford to pay for and we went with it. At this point we felt great about me leaving my full time job and working part time so that's when we decided I would turn in my resignation letter.

This past Thursday I received a letter. It simply stated that we had been approved for insurance. Yea. That's great news. But wait, there's some not so great news. Our policy would cost us an EXTRA $300 a month more than what they told us. What?!?!?!?!?!?!?! How come no one told me this was a possibility?! Shouldn't they have mentioned this might happen when I first called about it?!?! My heart dropped when I read this. Anxiety immediately took over and I was stressed. VERY STRESSED. I sent out a text to my friends because I needed to share my stress.

I felt so hopeless. How on earth could we make this work? To be honest, I still don't know and I'm still stressed. BUT I do know that what I posted a couple of weeks ago is still true. Even though my situation changes God doesn't change. I keep telling myself that God knew this was going to happen. He knew the letter would come AFTER we had made the decision for me to quit and work part time. I have to wonder if that's because had I received the letter before I might have chickened out of leaving my job. I'm so glad I didn't know this was going to happen because I needed to leave my job. That was the right thing to do. And I am excited about my new job and being able to spend more time with Sadie. I know it's the right job for me.

So, now what?! I have no idea. I have no idea how this is going to work out. I have no idea how we're going to be able to afford health insurance. It seems impossible. What I do know is that Josh and I are going to do the best we can with what we have, I will probably start sewing again, maybe have a yard sale and sell everything we own, :) and trust that God will provide. I know He hasn't brought us this far only to abandon us now.

MY God IS Faithful.

This Week

Watched TV

Got new shoes

Played in the swing

Went to to see Granny Ima and Granny Ruby

Had dinner with Jules

Wore camo for the first time

Got my first diamond

Had lunch with Big and Jules

Got coffee with Jill...

....Amelia and the gang.

Got dressed up to see daddy

Had fun taking a bath

Love and Marriage, Love and Marriage

Of all the Show Us Your Life posts I decided to join the fun for the week on marriage advice. Hmmm...well I've only been married for 2 years and 10 months so I'm not sure I have much to offer. I decided I would tell you about the people who have the biggest influence on my marriage right now (not including the LORD, that goes without saying for this post).

Obviously first would be Josh and I. We make or break this whole marriage thing. There has been a lot of learning on our parts these last few years. He and I are pretty stubborn and strong willed so it's been a challenge at times. The thing that keeps us both in check is simple...choose your battles. There is always going to be a battle of some kind. Some will be petty and some will be serious. Choose the ones you're willing to die for and let the other ones go. You can't win them all so choose wisely. :)

Another thing I think is important is to always assume the best in the other person. It's so easy to get your feelings hurt or misunderstand something your spouse does or says but if you assume the best instead of the worst you'll be better off.

This is just a random side note but one of my favorite parts of marriage is pillow talk. This doesn't happen for us often because we don't normally go to bed at the same time. A lot of times Josh will stay up on the computer doing church or seminary work while I go to sleep. Sometimes though when we do go to bed at the same time but aren't really tired we have the best conversations. I feel like I'm just hanging out with my best friend and there's a lot of comfort in that. If you don't ever have pillow talk you certainly should.

Ahhhh....this little love has had a huge impact on our marriage. Since she arrived there's a lot more insecurity and fear. Boo. Insecurity on our parts as parents and fear because we want to keep her protected and safe from everything. It's easy to nag at the other parent for doing this or not doing that. I don't recommend that. Once kids come into the picture your marriage needs to remain the most important relationship. I can tell how easy it is for us to get caught up in Sadie. We live and function based on her schedule and her rules. It is so important that we set her aside and take time for ourselves. After all Josh is my first love and Sadie is my second. I want to make sure my priorities reflect that.

Last but not least another very important person in our marriage...

Dave! We love Dave. He has made things a lot easier on us in marriage. They say that money is one of the leading causes for divorce. Josh and I read this book and did Financial Peace University within our first year of marriage and I am so thankful we did. There are no questions about where the money goes and who is spending it. It's all laid out, the rules have been set, and that is that. There really are no surprises on where our money is going. Dave helped us to get debt paid off, set up a budget, and save money. If you haven't read this book I encourage you to. It will change your life.
AND ALL YOU SINGLES OUT THERE:
Getting yourself financially disciplined is the #1 thing I'd tell you to do before getting married. You will have a happier spouse and less stress overall if you'll get your finances in order. Don't bring debt to the marriage but instead bring savings and good stewardship. I assure you it will be the best thing you have ever done!

Tennessee Trip

At the end of June Josh, Sadie, and I took a trip to Tennessee. We had been planning on going at some point this year but we hadn't planned on the circumstances that would get us there. My sweet Nanny passed away on June 27th. Obviously I was very sad that she was no longer here but I was also sad because she didn't get to meet Sadie. I am so thankful that we talked on the phone just a few weeks prior to her passing. She just called to say she loved us and she enjoyed looking at pictures of Sadie on my blog. :) The last time I actually saw my nanny was here. She was such a sweet person and a little sassy too. That's probably why we got along so well. She will definitely be missed. My nanny was a Christian so this is not the end for her. Praise the LORD.

When I found out we were going to Tennessee I was sad for the circumstances but happy to see my family. We don't get to see them that often so it was good to see everyone. We stayed with my Uncle Dale and Aunt Hansi. They were a great host and hostess.

Here are lots of random pictures from the trip. I will have to insert more pictures when I get them from my cousin Dana. It was a rare occasion that all the cousins were together (minus my sister, she couldn't make it). My cousins Josh and Corey are in Kansas City, my cousin Darby is in Chicago, David is Tennessee, and Courtney and I are in Arkansas. What a treat to get to see them all.

Sadie did great on the trip but was a BEAR when we got there. Her reflux was bothering her and she was exhausted. We put her down for a nap an when she woke up she was much happier.

She got lots of attention.

Sadie and Avery
Avery belongs to my cousin David and his wife Mary Beth. I know I'm partial but is she not one of the cutest girls you have every seen? She has the best personality to go with it. I just adore her. If Sadie grows up to be as sweet as she is I will be thrilled.
Avery loved being around Sadie. She was her "baby sitter" for the night while we were all outside.


We had a great dinner outside. It was also my Papa's birthday. Sad. But we celebrated his birthday too.

Everyone sat around and talked for quite a while.

The next day was the funeral. I don't have any pictures from the lunch but I will get some. They took some family photos that I'd like to add.

After the services everyone came back to my Aunt and Uncle's house for dinner.

Anything for a smile.

Yep....here it goes again.

Uncle Buford and Aunt Ann

Uncle Dale and cousin Dana

Mom and Uncle Danny

Aunt Vicki, Mrs. Orgain, Baby Kate (she's David and Mary Beth's newborn. She was so little and sweet).

Sadie Lady

Avery and Darby

We played musical chairs a lot but I think everyone ended up at this table at one time or another.

Uncle Danny, cute Hubby, Dad

Josh likes this picture because he is the tallest. :)

Darby and Aunt Vicki

Daddy and Daughter

If you couldn't tell he's CRAZY about her. It makes my heart happy.

Kate and Mary Beth

Big D and Sadie

This one is also pretty crazy about her too. Just ask him and he'll show you about 500 pictures and 25 videos.

Avery was a big help. :)

Here Sadie is showing her Razorback spirit. This was important because we were among some die hard Ole Miss and Tennessee fans. She represented the hogs well.

Kate with Aunt Hansi

Aunt Vicki with little Sadie Lady

Like I said before it was a sad occasion for gathering together but a reminder that life is short and family is important. I hope we're able to see each other more often.